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Art, Beauty & Perfumes: The Genius of Roberto Greco

Sometimes, you stumble upon art of such great beauty that you stop in your tracks with awe. Art can move you deeply, whether it is from the sensuality that you see portrayed, the boldness of colours, the inherent drama of juxtaposed images, or the sheer talent that is involved. Last week, I came across a photographer whose works transcended mere pictures and involved actual Art. It left me speechless. In an extremely hectic week, his photographs (if one can even call them that) felt almost like a port in the storm, a place where I could seek quiet refuge to soothe my frazzled soul.

Candice Swanepoel in “Strict” by Mert & Marcus for Interview Magazine September 2011.

I rarely talk about my love for photography, even to my friends, but I’ve had it since childhood. Other people’s photography, to be clear, as I have no talent of my own in this field whatsoever. I started by admiring the nature photography of Ansel Adams and the photojournalism of Robert Doisneau, then developed a particular interest in fashion and art photography. I have a huge passion for the works of the late, great Herb Ritts who is my absolute favorite, though I also really like Richard Avedon, and Helmut Newton. These days, I can fall down the rabbit-hole for hours staring at the strong, sexy women of Mert & Marcus, a brilliant duo who may be aesthetic sons of both of those last legends combined and whose work I’ve used a number of time for the blog.

Last week, I was calmly minding my own business, going about my work, when I received a very lovely email. I often receive notes from perfume lovers who want to talk about some of their favorite fragrances or to occasionally ask me a question. This one was from a chap called Roberto Greco who wrote that he was a photographer and a perfume addict who really appreciated my reviews. He added that he thought he’d share a link to some small photographs that he’d taken a year ago for himself. The mention of photographs was nothing big; it was all understated, presented more like a little vanity project that he’d done privately out of his love of perfumery and that he merely wanted to share with another perfume lover.

I clicked on the link, and… GOOD GOD! In fact, those were close to the actual words that I said to myself, since I just about fell over in my chair at what I saw. The next words which blasted through my mind were “Vermeer,” “Rembrandt,” and “Dutch Old Masters.” I was captivated, and wrote back to Mr. Greco with my astonishment. He’s an incredibly sweet man with excessive modesty, if you ask me, as he seemed rather amazed at my response. He shyly shared a few more of his photos and his main website, where I discovered further treasures, both perfume-related and otherwise.

I decided that I wanted as many people to see his work as possible, and asked him if he would mind if I highlighted his photos in a post on the blog. He has generously given me permission, and let me pick the images that I wanted to use, including several that were commissioned for commercial use by perfume houses, fashion designers, magazines or the like. (I insisted that he put a watermark and his name on them, lest they get stolen. Mr. Greco has a much kinder view of human nature than I do, but he put in a tiny one so that it wouldn’t ruin your enjoyment of the images.)

I’m really so happy to be able to share his work with you, because I think the word “talented” doesn’t even begin to describe him. So, I’ll start with the very first, initial photographs that I saw and that impressed me so much with their evocation of the classical still life painting tradition.

Look at his eye for details, from the giant beetle on the corner which matches the colour of the velvet in the next photo:There is no doubt that Mr. Greco is influenced by the Old Masters and the baroque tradition of still-life paintings. Some of the commercial work on his website makes that abundantly clear. Each work has such depth, richness, and dark luxuriousness, but I also love the extremely bold, powerful imagery. It hits you right off the bat, from contrast of colours, the unexpected juxtapositions, and those tiny, minute details that you only pick up if you look closer upon a second or third viewing. Honestly, I think this is actual Art, with a capital letter, more than just a mere photograph:

“Budgie and Pomegranate.”

“Girl and Grapes.”

Look at how the juices from the grape stain her thigh, in the photo above, and the luminescent light of her skin that speaks more to painting than photography. I think Vermeer and his Dutch brethren would be so impressed by Mr. Greco’s Girl with Grapes.

Yet, Mr. Greco doesn’t slavishly copy the classical Baroque tradition. He turns it upside down by inserting animals or unexpected details into his still-lifes.

“Still life with rats.”

“Still life with Discus fish.”

Commercial work for others can sometimes require an artist to restrain himself or to edit his voice, but I think Mr. Greco’s work remains powerful and still demonstrates his overall aesthetic beautifully.

Commissioned by Les Echos magazine.

“Bloody Wood” for the perfume house, Les Liquides Imaginaires

“Bello Rabelo” for Les Liquides Imaginaires.

“Dom Rosa” for Les Liquides Imaginaires

Photo commissioned by the fashion designer, Nunzio del Prete.

Commissioned by Les Restos d’Occase.

Photo commissioned by Oriza L. Legrand.

The funny thing about that last photo is that I actually saw it while I was in the Oriza L. Legrand boutique last fall in Paris. I distinctly remember the crown, and doing a double-take at it, thinking to myself, “What a fantastic picture. I wonder who took it?” The world is a very small, funny place at times.

I asked Mr. Greco about himself. His website biography talks about the exhibitions that he’s had, or the galleries that have proudly shown his work, but it doesn’t say much about the man himself. It’s clear he was educated in Switzerland, and that he now spends his time between Paris and Geneva, but little else. So, I asked Mr. Greco to write a tiny bit about himself, how he came to love perfume so much, and his aesthetic approach. English is not his primary language, but I think he managed beautifully:

I think it all started when, as a kid, my mother sprayed her perfume on my pillow to help me wait a long holiday absence. This smell was a picture, her face.

I’m a south Italian, but I was born in Geneva, Switzerland. At 15, I made studies in horticulture, but art was never really far. Indeed, I studied in 2 different art schools in Switzerland, and nature has a prominent place in my artistic work from the beginning.

Whether plants or animals in my childhood, the smell they gave off always fascinated me. Just a look at the steam emanating of a pile of wet leaves when it’s cold outside, will make you able to capture the complexity of all these organic things that surround us. All these smells are images. I will keep forever in my mind, and now I try to transcribe them in my art.

Once, an art director told me that my way of creating was the same as a perfumer. Different intensities which punctuate the picture. Here a detail, another one there, and then the rhythm starts to give the tempo and make an harmony …much like top notes , heart notes and base notes of a fragrance.

Recently, I found interesting to add a scent during my last personal exhibition. All the space was immersed in an animal and sweat scent. I make it by mixing different scents, and hidden some manure everywhere.

Today I am often asked to photograph perfumes, and it is a joy for me to marry two passions. Interpret the world of a fragrance while playing with the codes of art is an exciting challenge!

“Eaux Sanguines” for Les Liquides Imaginaires.

Currently I am very attracted to odours that remind me of my past. For example, olibanum incense is quite an obsession, probably because all those years I came to the church (Bois d’Encens by Armani Privé, Wazamba by Parfum D’ Empire, Olibanum by Profumum and Sancti by Les Liquides Imaginaires ). Woods and plants are also very present (Chêne and Iris Silver Mist by Serge Lutens, Virgilio by Diptyque).

Recently, I bought a perfume because when I smelled it, it referred me immediately to my Italian grandmother. It was obvious : this blend of lilies, dusty incense, wet clothes drying in the sun… It was her ! At least her image, because she doesn’t wear any perfume, and this is exactly for this kind of situation that I love and need perfume. (It was Relique d’Amour by Oriza L. Legrand ).

Now I live and work in Paris, and for a perfume addict like me, what could I expect more? [Emphasis to names with bolding added by me.]

Like every artist with depth, there is more to Mr. Greco than just baroque images or still lifes. He doesn’t limit himself to one particular thing, because photography is, at its heart, all about self-expression, a way to reveal different sides of oneself. Some of his perfume photos demonstrate a meditative, almost mystical quality, like the Chanel Cuir de Russie above, or the Opium photo below. Perfume bottles hidden by smoke, or the mists of time, perhaps. Others reflect a very modern sensibility with sleek minimalism or an almost textural, liquid feel.

“Blue Armani.”

Then, there is the joyous mood of his hyper-saturated, pastel photos. The candied simplicity of their pop cultural, Andy Warhol-like brightness is brilliantly intercut with the unexpectedness of hair — hair twisted to grow like living bushes or sculptured into sleek, architectural waves:

Photo with Olivier Schawalder, hairstylist.

Photo with Olivier Schawalder, hairstylist.

Photo with Olivier Schawalder, hairstylist.

Photo with Olivier Schawalder, hairstylist.

Valentino. Photo with Olivier Schawalder, hairstylist.

These are only a fraction of the multi-faceted things that Mr. Greco has done. You can see more of his artistic and exhibition work on his current website, but also on his earlier one that is devoted to some of his other projects, whether his personal perfume pictures, his fashion photography, videos, or the like.

One of my favorite things about blogging is the people who I meet, and the passions that they share with me. When I opened up that first email from Mr. Greco and diffidently clicked on the link enclosed, I had no expectations of anything. Humble, little photographs is essentially how he conveyed himself to me. I certainly didn’t expect to be blown away by Art, with a capital A. But that is what it is. Mr. Greco paints with his lens: textures, layers, moods, richness, and passion.

There is enormous depth and sensuality underlying his images, but a naughty, mischievous sense of humour, too, with the unexpected touches like the white mice in one of the still-life tableaux. (The piece is entitled “Still life with rats,” but they are cute little mice, not ugly rats, so I’m ignoring the official title.) Mr. Greco also throws in little “Easter egg” elements that reward the careful viewer who takes a second or third look, like the gigantic cicada (I thought it was a moth) hovering at the corner of the bowl of strawberries in his hanging Fish and Vegetable still-life for Les Restos d’Occase. I can look at his photos again and again, always finding new meaning or symbolism. A pink rose that drips like wax downwards, in contrast to the rigid, still, vertical legs going up of the dead bird in the corner. Or, the meatiness of the cherries that lie symbolically stabbed and bloodied by shards of glass in the photo, “Bloody Wood” for Les Liquides Imaginaires. So damn clever!

Many artists are temperamental creatures driven by ego or moods, and photographers are not necessarily an exception. I should know, as I have one in the family; a former fashion photographer who was even the legendary Helmut Newton’s assistant at one point. (If you want to talk about utterly crazy, egomaniacal geniuses, the late Helmut Newton might have topped the list.)

Yet, Mr. Greco seems to be quite a different sort of artist. Granted, I’ve only had email communication with him, but his modesty and consistently humble nature are striking. He is totally lacking in pretentious artifice or arrogance. All he sought to do in contacting me was to privately share his passion for perfumery. I’m the one who insisted on featuring him on the blog, because I thought that many of you would be as impressed as I was. And I really hope you have been. I also hope that you will share in the comments anything that struck you, moved you, or was a favorite, as well as the reasons why. If you have a message for Mr. Greco, please feel free to leave that, too. All artists love to hear feedback, or to learn about the emotional response that their creations evoke.

The great Ansel Adams once said, “You don’t make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.” In the case of Roberto Greco, you can add perfumes to that list as well.

Disclosure: All photos used by permission. Full rights are reserved to Mr. Greco, and nothing may be used without his express authorization. Please don’t steal and not give credit!

41 thoughts on “Art, Beauty & Perfumes: The Genius of Roberto Greco”

Wow and wow and wow again!This is beyond words beautiful!Funny I saw the Oriza photo onthe FIF website when they introduced the line and I thought that it is stunning so in line with the house esthetic. Indeed world is so small and again I was looking at the girl and the grapes photo and I was thinking it’s incredible how you can see the fruit juices dripping down her leg and when I scrolled down a bit lower you were writing nearly the exact same words:-) Great minds think alike!Thank you for this feast!

I’m so happy at your reaction. So happy, you don’t know. I was hoping so much that some of you might be blown away in the same way that I was. I think visual “feast” sums it up perfectly. And how wonderful that you immediately and instinctively noted the same thing about the “Girl and Grapes” photo, about how the fruit juices are dripping down her leg. Honestly, it looks more like an oil painting than a photograph. There is something about the light and textural quality that is so incredibly brilliant.

I can never decide which ones are my favorites, but I’m utterly fascinated and obsessed with that yellow Budgie and Pomegranate. The colours on that one!!! And there is such a 2-dimension quality where the bottom and back of the images have been blended into one, as if there were no table or wall, but the budgie just dives through space and time to pierce the fruit, just as his yellow pierces the blackness. I SO want that Budgie one, but then I look at the stabbed cherries photo, or the one with the seemingly bloodied Roman head… God, they’re all so fantastic. And those adorable little mice (which SO don’t deserve to be labelled as rats)… Man, I could talk about his photos for hours.

Yes THAT BUDGIE! I stared at that one for minutes on end! How did he capture that one I don’t know.I immediately thought that one would be my boyfriend’s favorite. He utterly adores bold, saturated colors, something that looks at the same time glamorous and sensual and pulsating with life. You can nearly feel the pleasure of the budgie plunging into the deliciousness of the pomegranate. I felt like having a piece of the fruit myself:). They are so wonderful!

HAHA, at the “yes, THAT BUDGIE” reaction because it’s so much like mine. 😀 You know, I just BARELY restrained myself from having more photos included in the post, because I didn’t want to overwhelm people (while simulatenously wanting to overwhelm them completely). lol. But given your reaction, I think I’m going to ask him if I can add in 3-4 more perfume bottle photos that show hypersaturated pastels and mega bright colours as well. Hopefully, I can amend and update the post later tonight. I’d love to see what your boyfriend thought of those colours as well.

My man is a person of great taste!Of course he totally and utterly adore them and I was right,he stopped mesmerised right at the budgie.It was so funny couldn’t stop giggling that I was so accurate in my guess:-) You see,Vasile,that’s my man’s name,in many ways,he is my mentor.I ALWAYS value his opinion,he is my compass.Sure,I don’t follow blindly,I have my own set of values,but he has a wonderful instinct for what is extraordinary.Be it perfume,art,photography,you name it.He taught me a lot,I grew up with him,as I was only 19 when our relationship started.And there we are 15 years later,with many lessons learned:-)

Awww, thank you for sharing about Vasile, his impact on you, your closeness, and his importance in your life. I loved hearing about it, even more than I did hearing about his reaction to the Budgie photo! And how cool that you were so right about that! 🙂

You might want to share with him the remainder of the particular series from which the Budgie photo is just one. Vasile may like them, as they are equally dramatic, though often much darker in nature. They are Roberto Greco’s Morbidezza still-life series, and the direct link is: http://www.grecoroberto.com/morbidezza.html The photos are meant to be a statement about our own inner brutality: “between metaphysical balance and bestiality, these images with subtle gradations of color and surreal atmosphere, affecting our innermost fibres, make us face our own brutality.”

PS — Please feel free to share links with your friends or anyone who loves either perfume or photography. This man deserves some proper recognition!

The purple allium, that bubble about to burst (because those deep colors are always what they turn right before they turn murky clear then pop), and a bottle of Coco which strikes me as a very purple fragrance. That one stood out for me. And that his mom sprayed his pillows with her perfume. My daughter is having me do that for her to help her sleep. Thanks for sharing these amazing photos with us.

Awww, Vicki, I have no doubt that one day your daughter will talk about you spraying your perfume on her pillows with the same affection that he speaks of his mother. As the Patricia de Nicolai profile shows, we are so influenced and shaped by our parents’ love of perfumery. 🙂

These pictures are beyond amazing, thanks for sharing them!! The way he plays with colours, light and shadow really seems to set aside the boundaries between photography and painting, this is probably what fascinates me most (and the good sense of humor…).
I love the Bois d’Encens one, not because it’s the only one from the Privé line I adore but it captures the atmosphere of the fragrance and – what can I say – is just incredibly beautiful (do you think it is a citation of a specific cubistic painting?).
Well, actually I love them all! I’ll have a look at his website now.

I’ll have to ask him about the cubists and whether they influenced him, Anka. I’m curious as well. That photo is actually from a brand new series that he’s doing that is extremely modernistic in feel. (Post-modernist maybe? Who knows the specific technical term. lol) There were some other really cool ones (not shown on his website yet as they are too new), featuring Serge Lutens’ De Profundis and Jovoy’s Liturgie des Heures. All really interesting in their juxtaposition of lines and shapes, but with movement as well. I think the Bois d’Encens is his favorite from those.

I’m so happy you find his photos amazing. You got at exactly what I was trying to convey, about his images frequently moving past the boundary of photography and into actual painting. I’m so pleased you saw and understood that too! 🙂

So beautiful. I am still a lover of dark wave and the early goth blood of the 80’s runs through my veins. I love these pictures. A darkened still life motif that becomes illuminated in its tension. Lovely! It has some Joseph Cornell elements. Really gorgeous. The Tom Ford’s and the Diptyque pictures are stunning. That bottle of Opium makes me want to turn back in time and stock up on 10 bottles of the old good stuff.
Kafka, on another yet always scented topic: have you tried Santal Exotic by Exotic Islands? If so, can you comment a bit on it? I read somewhere it was supposed to be a true Mysore and well, if that is the case, you know, I have to sample 😉

OUTSTANDING!!!!!!! His art is simply (but not at all simple) gorgeous!! I can’t thank you enough for this array of art and evocative images. I want to tell you about my favorites, but I can hardly pin down just one. Maybe Still Life With Rats. I love Dutch still life’s, with oozing fruits and lush fabrics and saturated colors. This man is amazing. This is my favorite article this year, without a doubt. And how amazing that he incorporates perfume into his tableaux. Kafka, you have made me a very happy girl!!!!

HURRAH at another enthusiastic, awed reaction! Now that makes ME very happy! Really, I’m so chuffed. I want as many people as possible to see his stuff. I can’t believe he’s not a huge international hit, but he’s bound to be. He will be, I know it. I’ve never seen anything quite like his work ever before.

As for favorite works, I’m so pleased to hear that the still lifes are your favorites. The “rat” one is so well done. I love how one poor mouse seems to be totally drunk as half his body is inside the wine goblet, and he looks as if he’s gone limp from drunkenness. LOL. But I also love the gleaming gold of the Chanel Coco amidst the dead fish. That was the first one I saw that first day, and my reaction was immediate. (It was also a lot more … er… colloquial… than a mere “Good God.” 😉 heh.)

Really, I’m so utterly chuffed that a number of you like his stuff so much.

I simply must have at least one in my master bedroom even I redecorate it this summer! These are awe inspiring thanks to BOTH you and Mr. Greco for sharing these! I will definitely be contacting him! Incredible!!!!

HURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAH! I’m so happy at your reaction! Really, I’m thrilled. Please feel free to share the link to my post or to his website, so as to help spread the word. (I don’t care if any-one reads me, but I want HIM to get the attention.) I can’t understand why he’s not bigger or a world star, because he deserves to be, in my opinion.

Perhaps we can all help spread the word and get him some more attention? There are some U.S. magazines like Vogue or perfume houses who would undoubtedly love an artist like him. Sometimes, all it takes is a friend of a friend of a friend. 🙂

Such glorious art… I want to call them paintings because they’re so rich in depth and style. I could look at these for days to look for all of the hidden nuances. Really lovely and so greatly talented. Thanks for sharing Mr. Greco’s work. And what does it say about me that the one I like the best is “Still Life with Rats”???

It was my favorite, too! It is a veritable orgy of gluttonous excess! Majesty and humor combined. The mouse in the wine cup with it’s tail in the air reaching for the very last drop made me giggle. I’ve been there!

I think it would say that you are in good company, as a few of us like the white mice one. 🙂 I love how drunk one of them seems to be, his body lying supine half in and half out of the wine goblet. Such a subtle touch, but so funny. Another one of them is, quite naturally, drawn to the cheese! A very sly sense of humour, indeed.

Really wonderful things here – and I am So Not a Visual Person. My art-historian sister despairs of me.

Love the one for Coco Noir – those stiff blue flowers! the bubble! – and Still Life with Rats, which has such a sly sense of humor. Love Still Life with Discus Fish – the colors in it, and the curl of lemon peel. The knife balancing so precisely. And the Nunzio del Prete one, that reminds me of something I can’t place. St. Jerome? I don’t know.

Ha, about your sister! You should show her these and tell her that, clearly, there needs to be perfume involved for you to love art. 😉 😀 As for the Nunzio del Prete one, it keeps reminding me of something too. It’s the gaunt figures of El Greco, which I find to be a funny coincidence given that the photographer has the exact same last name as the Old Master! I will have to look up art representations of St. Jerome, to see if that is the connection or similarity. So thank you for that and for the suggestion. Perhaps your sister would be able to better place it? lol 🙂

These pictures are amazing ! I can see them hanging in the Rembrandt House in Amsterdam, at an exposition. They remind me of a very popular Dutch painter Helmantel who paints the old Dutch masters. Very intriguing as well, I wander how Roberto
Greco captured the living mice and parrots so beautifully. He must be a very patient man. Can’t decide which one I like best probably the pomegrate and parrot. Beautiful indeed. Great to share this, Kafka !

Roberto Greco is a genius allright. I, too, was taken with “Budgie and Pomegranate.” The composition & colors were beautiful. He also has a sly sense of humor, as evidenced by his Morbidezza series, loved it!
Since Wazamba by Parfum D’Empire is one of his current obsessions & my most recent fb purchase, I think a Kafkaesque review of it is in order, don’t you? As a former altar boy, I can understand his attraction to it. I said former altar boy, not defrocked altar boy!

Hahaha at the “not defrocked” altar boy caveat! I’m so happy that you share my admiration for his work, and think that he’s a genius too. I can’t think of any modern *photographer* whose works amount to paintings in quite the same way.

As for Wazamba, I have been meaning to get a sample. I thought I had quite a few Parfums d’Empire samples, actually, but either I was wrong or I have mislaid them, as I only seem to have 2, none of which are the main ones that intrigued me. I’ve held off on reviewing partially for that reason, and primarily because I have SOOOOOOOOOO many perfumes to get through that are more recent releases, so they really can’t wait. I think I have about 30 or 40 ahead of the Eau de Gloire, etc. But, next STC sale, I shall try to remember to order Wazamba. 🙂

Thank-you for bring Mr. Greco’s work to our attention. Truly masterful. I particularly like the piece commissioned by Les Echos. The shoe drew my attention immediately, and then caused me to go back, re-read the article and look again at each photograph. I look forward to exploring this enchanting world some more.

The Les Echos tableau was very cool with the Penhaligon perfumes, Chanel bag, and the parrot, contrasted with more typical still-life touches like that vivid lemon peel! I’m glad you enjoyed it, my dear, and hope you find a few more that intrigue you upon closer look. 🙂

I am obsessed with his work. Everytime the photo makes you feel as if you can smell, taste, and touch what is in that room of the images.. the animals, the plants, the powders and textures.
You’re right, he is not an ego-maniac artist, he is one that everyone can say, “truly amazing”.
Simply leaving the viewer to always say, “Beautiful” leaves me speechless at his work.
.. and yes, the layers of his work are endless.
One of the most incredible photographers I have seen now.. so fresh, although it makes you feel as if you know something about the images so well.

Having spent the better part of the last 2 days just to compose and photograph a collection of perfumes fills me with admiration for Mr. Greco’s stunning photos. The most minute detail makes such a difference. I have much to learn… and will study/enjoy his website.

How lovely to see you, Roberto. I am so glad you could feel everyone’s awe and amazement at your brilliant creations. I hope the rest of the world discovers you soon, because I know it WILL happen. It’s just a question of time.

Oh my god. I had to go back again and again and again and AGAIN to look at some of those. I seriously want to touch them, like I want to touch all amazing art. I can’t pick a favourite; they are all so brilliant! I _NEED_ to know more about this amazing artist now. Does he have a book of his photographs out? Does he sell prints?

I’m so glad you loved them as much as I did. I’m afraid Mr. Greco doesn’t have a book, and I don’t know about buying prints. You can perhaps contact him at his website to ask. They would definitely be show-stoppers when put up in one’s home!

I’m doing well, thank you. And yes, it has been a long time. 🙂 Hope you’re doing well. 🙂

Wow, stunning work! Truly! Thank you for sharing this very talented gentleman’s photography. While the rat one gave me a full-body shudder due to my rodentia revulsion, I absolutely loved the rest. I love still life paintings, so it was cool to see him take on some of the Dutch and Flemish greats with such precision – and moreover, while still putting his own unique spin on things. Gorgeous.